Cameroon’s Issa Nlareb A Amang and Simon Seungmin Lee from the Republic of Korea both enjoyed superb second rounds to shine on their debuts at The G4D Open in Wales.
The pair signed for the first under-par rounds of the week over the Roman Road Course at the Celtic Manor Resort to take charge of the men’s event going into tomorrow’s final 18 holes.
With England’s Kipp Popert – the number one player on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD) – and two-time winner Brendan Lawlor in the hunt after the opening round, Nlareb A Amang and Seungmin Lee responded in some style on day two.
On a day of better weather conditions, Nlareb A Amang, 35, recorded six birdies in a brilliant round of two-under 68 for a 36-hole total of one-over 141. Seungmin Lee, 28, went one better, posting a 67, highlighted with an eagle at the 9th and only dropping a shot at the last.
Seungmin Lee trails Nlareb A Amang by a stroke on two-over, with Lachlan Wood from Australia next best on seven-over – after he started with three birdies in his first seven holes. On an international leaderboard with the top nine all represented by different countries, Popert sits eight-over while Lawlor is nine-over alongside Kiefer Jones from Canada and Turkey’s Mehmet Kazan.
Nlareb A Amang was a professional player when, in 2018, bacterial meningitis led to a double leg amputation and severely damaged hands. The world number seven has since fought back to health and last month won the EDGA Tour Pas de Calais in France.
World number two Seungmin Lee, who is autistic, triumphed at the US Adaptive Open in 2022. He also won the 2025 ISPS HANDA Australian All Abilities Championship and the Glico Paragolf Championship in Japan for three straight years.
In the women’s event, Germany’s Jennifer Sräga, 26, holds a narrow one-shot lead over the defending champion, Daphne van Houten from the Netherlands. Van Houten is aiming for a hat-trick of titles after back-to-back victories at Woburn in 2024 and 2025.
Van Houten’s round of 78, including a birdie at the 2nd, pushed her back into contention, as Sräga signed for an 82 and a 163 total for 36 holes.
Sräga, who finished second in the women’s overall Championship last year on her debut, was born with achondroplasia, commonly called short stature. Overnight leader Natasha Stasiuk from Canada dropped six shots behind Sräga at the top.
In a first for the Championship, there was a cut to the leading 20 overall men and ties and top ten overall women and ties.
The G4D Open, staged in partnership between the DP World Tour and The R&A and supported by EDGA, is being held at the Celtic Manor Resort for the first time with the world’s most talented golfers with disabilities displaying their skills.
Eighty men and women players of amateur and professional status are competing, with overall men’s and women’s winners and trophies earned in each of the nine sport classes across the recognised impairment groups which cover Standing, Intellectual, Visual and Sitting. Spectators are encouraged to attend, with attendance and car parking free of charge.
View scoring from day two at The G4D Open here.
Player Quotes
Issa Nlareb A Amang, Cameroon
“I feel happy every day playing golf. I enjoyed the round because yesterday I played so badly on the greens. Afterwards, I went to do some practice putting and this worked this morning.
“We'll see tomorrow. I'm happy because it will be my first time to play with Simon. My objective for this event was to see all the players. I'm in the world rankings but I don't know the players. I wanted to come here and play with the good players in the world this week. Tomorrow is another day where I'll try to give my best.”
Simon Seungmin Lee, Republic of Korea
“I’m happy. All of the shots, especially my chipping and my putting, were good. It went well. I’m proud to be here. It’s my first time in the UK but the weather is very changeable. It's sunny, and then it's rainy, then gets nasty. It’s very changeable weather.
“Maybe I can win tomorrow, yeah. I have a feeling. We're going to play tomorrow aggressively, attack every hole, all 18 holes. That's the strategy for tomorrow.”
Jennifer Sräga, Germany
“My performance was okay today. One shot worse than yesterday, but I think yesterday was tougher because of the rain, then wind, rain and then sunny. Today maybe I was a little bit tired but I’m one shot in front. I think it's a good start for tomorrow.
“Now we have played the course three times, we know the spots where to put the ball or where not to put the ball. So I’m more sure playing this course. It's always my aim to be first, beat others and show them how good I am. It's good motivation and I'm looking forward to it tomorrow.”
Daphne van Houten, Netherlands
“It was a lot better today than yesterday. Yesterday I was struggling a lot because it was much colder, and then my back is much more stiff and it's harder to make a good swing.
“Today I went to the range and started to hit the ball a lot better. I got a bit more confident out there at the finish of the round, and I am looking forward to tomorrow to bring that back on the course. If I play like today, I am quite sure that I have a very good chance of winning for a third time.”
